Feb 7, 2022·edited Feb 7, 2022Liked by Benjie de la Peña
Since my first time in Africa, I witnessed that public transport mechanics can MacGyver any vehicle and make it run if they have to. Heck, you'll see drivers by the side of the road, scanning the immediate area for anything that might be improvised into a tool or a replacement part – and then they will perform a miracle before your eyes. With the right incentives, Africa's fleet of second-hand buses would be retrofitted to electric power in no time.
I wonder how much it would cost. The West to buy its old gas guzzlers back if it neglects its power grid enough, or turns away from the Natural Batteries God has given us in the form of coal an oil and natural gas long enough to be so dependent on the "Renewables" that can only be counted on for at best 25% of the time and cannot get started in the morning because the batteries are dead and there's not enough juice running through the wires?
The Third World could get rich off the stupidity of Westerners who have killed the giants on whose shoulders they have placidly surveyed the world.
Thank you for bringing up conversion! We are never going to get to where we need to go on climate change without solutions for conversion of both shared-use and personal vehicles, including in the United States.
I think battery swapping makes a lot of sense for smaller vehicles, like what they do in India with e-rickshaws. But with bigger vehicles, it's just too cost prohibitive and resource inefficient. Instead of having a single battery per bus, you'd start thinking about 2-3 on average. With batteries being one of the most expensive elements of large vehicles, this doesn't make much sense to me.
Since my first time in Africa, I witnessed that public transport mechanics can MacGyver any vehicle and make it run if they have to. Heck, you'll see drivers by the side of the road, scanning the immediate area for anything that might be improvised into a tool or a replacement part – and then they will perform a miracle before your eyes. With the right incentives, Africa's fleet of second-hand buses would be retrofitted to electric power in no time.
I wonder how much it would cost. The West to buy its old gas guzzlers back if it neglects its power grid enough, or turns away from the Natural Batteries God has given us in the form of coal an oil and natural gas long enough to be so dependent on the "Renewables" that can only be counted on for at best 25% of the time and cannot get started in the morning because the batteries are dead and there's not enough juice running through the wires?
The Third World could get rich off the stupidity of Westerners who have killed the giants on whose shoulders they have placidly surveyed the world.
Thank you for bringing up conversion! We are never going to get to where we need to go on climate change without solutions for conversion of both shared-use and personal vehicles, including in the United States.
I think battery swapping makes a lot of sense for smaller vehicles, like what they do in India with e-rickshaws. But with bigger vehicles, it's just too cost prohibitive and resource inefficient. Instead of having a single battery per bus, you'd start thinking about 2-3 on average. With batteries being one of the most expensive elements of large vehicles, this doesn't make much sense to me.